Laughing, developing, evaluating

Today I was having lunch with some friends and the conversation turned to computer games. Not being much of a gamer, I carried on eating, until someone mentioned the games coming out for the new Nintendo console.
Said the guy:

"I can't wait to get Final Fantsy on my wee."

I knew about the new console's ridiculous name, but I still laughed like a small boy at actually hearing someone say "Wii" in the context of a sentence.

Later, I was rushing for my lesson on the fourth floor of the CIE when the open lift came into view. Unfortunately, it was already stuffed. Seeing the last few people drift in and assume sardine-tin formation, I mimed "WHYYYY?" at someone I knew as the doors closed. I turned and walked for the stairs. Then I started running to get to the top floor before the lift did and laugh at the passengers.

I laughed long and I laughed hard. Before doubling over at the sensation of the lactic acid pumping through my veins. Still, I laughed.

Over the past couple of days I've been developing the film I took with the photography club, using their darkroom. Since I managed to expose one of my rolls while it was in my camera, I was really trying to make sure these ones came out OK. It struck me that it was a really complex process, especially when you're doing it manually with a spool to wind the unexposed film on in the dark. Even if your only encounter with developing prints was dropping them off at Boots, digital photography really is a break with the past in terms of being able to view your work.

Although a few photos from the beginning of the film are lost, and a couple more are overexprosed, I'm pretty proud of what I got. Tomorrow I'm due to develop individual prints for the planned exhibition. I can't wait.

This semester is drawing to an end rather quicker than I realised, and we now have evaluation forms to fill out for all our subjects. I was actually told by one of my professors that these are actually taken very seriously at Gaidai, and the Dean personally reads the individual comments. Well, so much for my previous cynicism. I'm just glad I really put some effort into it this time. I guess it's because having been here for (almost) a full year, I feel more of a sense of ownership, of knowing the good and bad things about this place and wanting to change it for the better. If I'm lucky, I'll feel the same about Leeds when I get back there.